I know Guru will not like me for this post but I have a funny feeling we could see the first 50 of the season on Friday when the Force take on the Cheetahs at Subiaco Oval. You may think I am going crazy but after seeing both sides perform last weekend, I am seriously worried about the Cheetahs. The Cheetahs seemed to be lacking that cutting edge which should be coming from their winger Jongi Nokwe but the guy is still out injured and will not be playing this weekend. Granted the Force lost to a much better Blues team but there were signs in the Force team that on any given day they could just rise to the challenge and looking at the team John Mitchell has sent out to play on Friday, I would be worried if I were a Cheetahs fan.
I believe that the Force have one of the best backlines on paper in the Super 14. What is making me even more excited this weekend is that young James O’Connor is going to be starting for the Force in the number 12 jumper. I am a huge fan of this kid having seen him play for the Wallabies at the end of last year. I had thought that O’Connor was going to be a future number 15 but he says he wants to play 12 in his career. Fair and fine, if 12 is where he wants to play, he can not blame John Mitchell for not giving him the chance there. And what better a way to be groomed than having Matt Giteau and Ryan Cross next to you. Those three could arguably be the Wallabies backline for many years to come. But you still have the likes of Barnes at the Reds and Mortlock at the Brumbies to compete for those Wallaby backline jerseys. And not forgetting that the Force also have another Wallaby in Drew Mitchell in their backline. The Force will struggle upfront as they have a weak forward back but so do the Cheetahs. It is going to be a battle of poor forward packs on Friday and thus the team with the better backline will prevail and in my view that is the Force.
Taking a look at the full teams, the Cheetahs will start like this: Hennie Daniller; Fabian Juries, Piet van Zyl, Jacques-Louis Potgieter, Danwel Demas, Meyer Bosman, Tewis de Bruyn, Frans Viljoen, Juan Smith (c), Heinrich Brüssow, David de Villiers, Nico Breedt, Bees Roux, Adriaan Strauss, Wian du Preez.
Subs: Richardt Strauss, Kobus Calldo, Wayne van Heerden, Hendro Scholtz, Sarel Pretorius, Bjorn Basson, Hanno Coetzee.
Whilst the Force make 5 changes to the side that lost to the Blues. Cameron Shepherd, Nick Cummins, Ryan Cross, James O’Connor, Drew Mitchell, Matt Giteau, Josh Valentine, Richard Brown, David Pocock, Tamaiti Horua, Nathan Sharpe (capt), Pat O’Connor, Ben Castle, Tai McIsaac, Gareth Hardy. Res: Luke Holmes, Kieren Longbottom, Tom Hockings, Matt Hodgson, Chris O’Young, Josh Tatupu, Scott Staniforth.
The battle between Juan Smith and David Pocock is also going to be interesting. For those playing Super Bru, I would go for a Force win in this one without a shadow of a doubt!
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im agreeing with a force win on this one ron, but by 50points is a brave prediction. given your analysis above and the fact that both have fairly weak forwards, as you say it’ll be a battle of the backs and smith v pocock, but the backs can only do so much with what the forwards provide. so i dont see it being such a big margin, they could only manage that with more efficient forwards. but the force backline look far and away the better backline in this match. i didnt watch the force v blues game so cant comment much more, but on paper, that backline is more than capable of turning the cheetahs….
LOL….Ron, you knew i would be the frist to respond right, especially when you down play my beloved Cheetahs. Well, why don’t you put your money where your mouth is. I dare you to call Force by 50 on Superbru!!!!
Regarding the teams, I agree, on paper the Force are a better team and man for man as well, but 50points would be pushing it i’d say.
Correction, BP beat me to it but he clearly shares my sentiment.
Okay guys, I think I did not make myself clear when I said we are going to see the first 50 of the season. I did not mean a win by 50 but the Force would put 50 points on the board and the Cheetahs may come in with 20 or 30 points. It will be a high scoring game as I see this game being very open and Gits is going to have a field day!
wasnt the cheetahs v lions the first 50 on the board already? haha
anyways, going back to analysis and assuming you were talking about a 50point score by the force, lets remember the canes back in the late 90s, arguably the best backline in the super 12 with the like of umaga, cullen, lomu etc, but with a pack of forwards more akin to a bunch of clowns, and how many 50pointers did they put together? you need a strong pack to dominate like that, it doenst just come from a great backline…no decent ball from the forwards starves the backs of good go forward and opportunities to punish….
Nah BP, Lions won 34-28 against the Cheetahs, we have not seen a team put 50 yet. Believe me the moment that happens I am going to laugh so hard at the team which has 50 put on it… i just hope it is not an NZ team!! Speaking of 50’s… this one is for you Guru… have the Boks ever put 50 on the All Blacks??? Just a Question
With regards to your analysis BP, I agree with you, yes you do need a good pack. Hopefully Pocock (Zim boy) will get enough ball for the Force backline.
LOL…..Ron, do not go there mate…..you know if you bring up this Ab vs Bok issue I will take you to the years 1987, 1995 and 2007 respectively…..and as I have been telling you since your move to Joburg, you better pray the AB’s win that Webb Ellis in 2011, otherwise you’ll never hear the end of it. Worse still, if the boks take it in NZ…………Oh, I’m there already.
think i got the wrong end of the stick on the 50point thing, but i see what you’re saying….still dont think the force will do it tho…as much as i want them to.
pocock will have to battle it with smith who i heard had a blinder against the lions, so will be interesting to see. its being played in aussie as well so they’ll def have a huge home ground advantage. my superbru prediction wasnt really well thought out, but still dont see it being more than a 20margin, even if they post 50 on the board…..
Guru, didnt you say in a previous post to leave the past where it is?
haha yup, you have those world cups alright, but in terms of a winning ratio, it was neck and neck up until the late 90s, from then on, its been a BLACK OUT!!! cant think off hand what the number of wins for each team is, but its pretty heavely in favor of the ABs
Okay Guru, lets leave the NZ - Bok debate for another coz we will start a storm here, lets rather focus on how YOUR Cheetahs are going to get a hiding come Friday. It a pitty this game could not have been on a Saturday so we can watch it together but you can be sure I will be giving you live commentary during that game on Friday and will let you know in excatly which minute the Force are going to get their 50th point!!
I am sure Kearnsy will be commentating..”Giteau steps inside…one man to beat….O’Connor comes in support…Giteau offloads to Young James O’Connor….OVER!!! Go you good thing!!!!”
By the time PDV is done, that ratio will be sorted out BP, watch this space.
Oh gents, did you see that the bok is not homeless anymore, we now have SAB as our sponsors. Atleast the boys will not have to borrow jerseys from their S14 teams.
haha too much faith in PDV, surely not even he can completely ruin a ‘great’ team (in the words of a dubious Robbie Deans)
anyways, back to the point of this force match….ron, you are in love with that o’connor kid, i have to watch him a bit more to make any decent comment about him, but careful, this could come back to bite you and Guru could have the last laugh, the cheetahs arent completely hopeless….or so i think….
O’Connor had a stormer of a game vs the Barbarians. I’m a little concerned about talking him up just based on that game coz we all know how loose a barbarians game is and the fact that the barbarians players never actually gel. Not taking anything away from the lad, me thinks S14 will definitely be a different ball game and while he is good, he may not excel as much as Ron may expect. However, he is a good player.
Regarding the Force vs Cheetahs game, i am glad the Cheetahs are not considered favourites coz they can do without any more pressure. I will admit that the Cheetahs do not have depth. I mean, they have Piet Van Zyl coming in for Uys and yet both players would never even sniff the bench for the 2nd team at Sharks. And now we are busy chasing Loius Strydom, who is a Lions reject, out of all the teams!!!!!! ARGG!!! For the breeding grownd of SA rugby, the Cheetahs deserve better quality players. Anyway, back to the game on hand, i have not lost faith in my boys, as minute as it may be.
Therefore Guru, are you picking a Cheetahs win on SuperBru?
I shall not disclose until i have picked boss. You cannot be using such underhand tactics
Am still to pick and that’ll only happen tomorrow night. Let me consult my crystal ball
LOL…i can not wait to see your pick! Are you going to go with your brain or heart? We just have to wait and see but I know exactly who you are going to pick…..:)
It’s always these Head vs Heart picks that throw me off bro. Last week I would have picked the Lions if i has used my head. But my heart bleeds…………….
And now I am reading that Ben Castle, Scott Staniforth and Josh Valentine are playing for the Force…….not good for business.
haha you were talking up the cheetahs last week tho guru, with earl ‘the duck’ rose being the clear achilles heel of this team, altho he didnt do a bad job last week, i feel that if he plays 10 against the sharks this weekend, you may as well write that game off and give the sharks all the points already….otherwise it’d have been a closer affair….
the force are looking back to full strength…..
It was rhe heart speaking BP and the heart still speaks….GO CHEETAHS!!!!!!!!!!
Regarding Rose, he has a good game but i know the Sharks will not give him half as much space as he received from the Cheeatahs. I think he might just be exposed. I hope for his Springbok chances’ sake he proves me wrong.
Now if Earl Rose of all people had a good game against the Cheetahs what more if the Cheetahs give the same room to Giteau…. 50 here we come! Reason being, on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best, i give Earl Rose a minus 2 and Giteau a 7!
i dont really rate rose defensively, and i havent seen enough of him in the super 14/currie cup to make a comment about his bok chances, but if the popular opinion is anythign to go by, he shouldnt have any bok chances…..lets see what he brings this season….
the sharks have a good set of loose forwards and kankowski will mow him down with his pace, eish for an 8th man that guy has way too much gas!
hahaha ron i like your rating scale too classic!
LOL….for once I agree with both BP and Ron. I really do not rate Rose. Regardless of how well he might end up doing, I just think his ceiling is the S14 and that’s about it. Not a bad player at S14 but certainly not test rugby material. LOL……Not sure about the -2 vs 7 rating but I think I get Ron’s point. The two players are worlds apart.
I’m sure Jean Deysel is just praying for a run right into the flyhalf channel, now that would make for BRILLIANT VIEWING!!!!!!!
field day, someone make sure the ambulance is on standby, that kids gonna get his block knocked off i reckon….
like I have said before, ER is the most overrated player on this earth !! BP, i hope the ambulance ignores him !!
Anyway I do see a Force victory.
Sorry I just saw ER mentioned and as his biggest hater I just had to write something
GO BLUES !!!
ya way too rated, but he’ll be found out soon so dont stress, blues will ravish them come their time!
LOL Guru, I like your pick for this one on SuperBru!!!!
Had to use my head boss
sometimes the head has to make the decisions and not the heart, dont worry Guru, we’re all with you on this one!
RON - you watching this game? im trying to follow it on that rugby365 live scoring but its not great. sounds like the cheetahs are putting up a fight?
Oh yes I am BP! I must say the Cheetahs are doing well but JAMES O’CONNOR scored for the force. 16-7 to the Force with 25 mins to go. Force will win, just a matter of by how much!
SO much for your 50 pointer Ron. You clearly underestimate my boys. Final score 16-10.
didnt watch the game but read it was pretty boring….no dominant forwards for the backline to unleash….